Dean Elgar: Third Test is "like a World Cup final for us"

The South African captain confirmed that Ryan Rickelton would replace the injured Rassie van der Dussen in the tourists' line-up

Dean Elgar has referred to the final Test of the LV= Insurance series against England as "a World Cup final for us".

The South Africa captain has not only never experienced a series win against England but is fighting to ensure his team remain on course for the World Test Championship final next summer. And, after a series which has seen each side win a Test in three days, he expects an outright result even if the rain does intervene.

"There's definitely going to be a winner in this Test, no doubt," Elgar said. "The styles of cricket that we've been playing, there's definitely going to be a result. There will be a victor and there will be someone that loses this Test, no doubt.

"Going into the Test 1-1, it's pretty much like a World Cup final for us. That's the way I'm viewing it. We're going in with a result in mind and we're going to give our best effort for that. We can't control the weather but I'm pretty confident there will be a result in this game.

"It's the biggest Test so far in my captaincy. I think the players sense that. We've got to play every game like it's your last and I think this one of those where you have to empty the tank. You can't leave anything behind. You've got to leave everything on that field. It's huge. It's massive for us.

"I've never experienced a Test win against England in 10 years. It would be an unreal feeling for myself and massive for the younger guys in our changing room. It's not make or break, don’t get me wrong, but it's kind of big going forward. It could give us a little bit of an extra edge going forward into a potential World Test Championship final. I don't want to look too far ahead, but we're in a good spot and we if we manage to win this game, we're back at No.1. It's a very big game for us."

^{Ryan Rickelton will replace Rassie van der Dussen for South Africa (Lee Warren/Getty Images)}

While Elgar confirmed that Ryan Rickelton would come into the South Africa side in place of the injured Rassie van der Dussen, he hinted other changes could also be made. With rain forecast during the match, there seems a decent chance South Africa will drop one of their spinners – probably Simon Harmer – for another seamer and a possibility Aiden Markram, who has scored 36 runs in three innings, could miss out, too.

Marco Jansen, the allrounder who played at Lord's, and Khaya Zondo, whose only experience of Test cricket was as a Covid substitute, are standing by.

"Ryan Rickelton is our next batter in," Elgar confirmed. "It's his time to shine, hopefully. I'm confident he'll be filling that spot that Rassie had and good luck to him.

"I'm sure there's maybe one or two extra changes that we're going to enforce. It's obviously a big Test for us but everyone's raring to go and we've got a lot of options. There might be one or two extra changes.

"Currently it's raining which kind of throws a spanner in the works. But it's okay, we've got the resources, we've covered all bases with our bowling department. If it's raining you might see something different, but for now we've got a pretty stable XI we've got in mind."

^{Dean Elgar has called this Test a World Cup final for his side (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)}

Elgar also had words of warning for Harry Brook, who is set to make his Test debut for England. Brook made a polished century against South Africa in the Lions match in Kent earlier in the tour, but Elgar warned that Test cricket was a different challenge and could "humble" those who played in it.

"This is Test cricket now," Elgar said. "You can bat like that if you want in a four-day game or a County Championship game. But this is Test cricket, there's a lot of things that can put a stop to you as a player, the crowd or the camera.

"I've played quite a few days against him. He's a good player and he got a few runs against us. But this is Test cricket and we've got our fast bowlers who didn't bowl against him in Kent, so I'm not reading too much into that.

"This is Test cricket. It'll humble you as a player and as a person. This is the big league now."

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